Sunday, January 10, 2010

What does frostbite feel like?

This is probably a bad idea. I've been here at Afton Station for an hour and just now was able to remove my gloves. What does frostbite feel like? I was able to get the feeling back into two fingers on my right hand by sitting on my hand, so I guess I'm ok. It's taking FOREVER for this place to warm up. I'm going to stick it out until noon because I want to see Betty, but that should finish me off. The pipes are still frozen in the bathroom.

On the way up here, the car thermometer varied between 3-above and 3-below zero. I took this picture of the thermometer just as I was entering Afton. The roads are totally clear, however.I closed down the books for 2009. I had about 3,800 marks in my book representing visitors, but that number is way low of reality. It's so hard to get a reliable count. I'm too cold to start adding up states and countries, but I'll get to that another day. Financially, it was a very good year, that is if you don't want to heat and cool the place, make repairs, or EAT! :-)

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Oh my gosh, VISITORS! And not just any visitors, but a family of four from Brisbane, Australia! Lovely family -- my first visitors of the decade! They're in a rented motorhome and have been struggling to find trailer parks open. They're heading to Denver to ski at Steamboat, which is why they're traveling here in this weather when it's beautiful summer back home.

MORE visitors! A couple from Lucerne, Minnesota came through the door and remarked that it was warm in here. Of course they did -- they're from Minnesota! When they left home yesterday it was -22 there. They're heading for Arizona's warmth.

Finally, Betty arrived and it was so good to see her after several weeks. Furthermore, she brought me the most wonderful thing -- a CD of old Afton. I think it was probably made in the '70s and is pretty crudely filmed, but it's a narrated "tour" of the town, with commentary by some of the old timers who remember which buildings held which businesses and what buildings occupied the numerous empty lots that came later. If I can find a way to put it on YouTube, I'll make it available to everyone. It's a treasure for sure. Thank you so much, dear Betty!

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I left around 12:45 when I acknowledged that the temperature was never going to come up to a comfortable level. I'm writing this from home now. The trip home was sunny and pretty, and the temperature continued to rise as I approached Tulsa, but not until after I passed many fields full of shivering cows and horses.

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About Me

I'm the owner of Afton Station, in Afton Oklahoma, a small private Route 66 memorabilia and antique car museum housed in a restored filling station. We are visited daily by both domestic and foreign travelers who are exploring the charms of old Route 66. Their stories will be told here (and maybe a little bit of other stuff, too.) Since I live 80 miles from Afton Station, a straight shot on Route 66, you'll probably hear a lot about the Mother Road, too.